Study finds women behind surge in CBD use in Illinois

Published
May 26, 2017

A study of patients in Illinois suggests that CBD products are nearly as popular as THC products, and that women are the driving force behind sales of the former.

The Illinois Medical Cannabis Patient Experience Study – conducted by Aclara Research, a Chicago medical marijuana patient research firm – found that 47% of patients said they use CBD daily and 22% had no previous experience with marijuana before joining the state’s MMJ program.

The survey of 300 patients also showed that women are the biggest reason for CBD’s popularity in Illinois: Some 75% of female patients said they use it daily. In addition, about a quarter of female patients – 26% – said they had no previous marijuana experience before entering the Illinois program.

The study also found that the average patient spends more than $3,000 per year on medical cannabis.

Illinois’ 53 dispensaries have racked up more than $23 million in the first four months of this year, and more than $60 million since the program went online in November 2015.

Aclara claims this is the first study of patients’ cannabis consumption habits in Illinois since the state’s pilot program launched in 2013. Through May 3, the state had approved 19,660 patient applications.